BERNARDSVILLE - The local Republican committee has endorsed two challengers over an incumbent for the borough council spots on the June primary ballot for the second consecutive year.

Janet Waite, recreation committee member, and Christopher Schmidt, a Crownview Lane resident, both first-time candidates, Tuesday received the endorsement of the Bernardsville Republican Committee to run for two three-year terms on borough council in the June primary, according to a report in the Bernardsville News.

Waite and Schmidt beat out Councilman Craig Lawrence in a candidate screening held at Bernards High School, the second year in a row that sitting incumbents were passed over for fresh faces, the report said.